Sixteen

 

"Enough," Briska commanded, and the writhing, naked bodies in the mirror turned to reflected blue. Now she was done with them, no one would pry Snow White away from her prince.

She pressed her hands against the icy wall, then against her flaming cheeks, attempting to cool them. The glassy walls were weeping, it felt so hot in here, almost as though the steamy scene between Snow White and her match had heated up the palace, too.

If Briska had Amani here right now, she would...

She closed her eyes, feeling the icy chill invade her heart again. She didn't need to look to know the palace had frozen into its usual crystalline splendour, showing no sign of the recent melt.

Mistress Kun would be pleased at her success, she was sure of it.

If only Briska could feel some measure of satisfaction in it, but she felt nothing. While passion raged between Snow White and her prince, her heart was empty.

There was no one left to love.

Even her daughter had been torn from her.

If she could only see Maram again...

Briska stretched a hand toward the mirror, wishing with every bit of her being that she might glimpse the girl again.

But Maram was too young for matchmaking. She was barely old enough to play with the dolls Amani had bought for her.

The mirror surface rippled, clouded, then cleared.

Briska's breath caught in her throat.

Maram crouched in the garden, unnoticed in the dark. Light and laughter floated from the harem halls, but Maram only hugged her dolls tighter to her chest. What was the girl doing, awake so late? Had no one put her to bed, as they should?

Women passed her, taking no notice of the child.

Briska bit her lip, sending a spell through the aether to the harem. She let it expand like mist, until it had touched every woman present.

"Where is Maram?" murmured one, then another, until the whole harem started searching for the little girl.

It was a concubine who found her, a girl Briska remembered because she'd borne the Sultan a daughter not long after Briska had birthed Maram. What was her name again? N-something. Naheed, that was it.

Briska dug her teeth deeper into her lip, and sent out the most powerful seduction spell she'd ever cast. Not at Naheed but at the little girl in her arms.

A chorus of coos from the women standing around Naheed told her the spell had worked.

"Yes, love my daughter for me," Briska said. "He might have removed me from her life, but she will not go unloved. Every one of you will hold her as dear as your own child."

She watched greedily as Naheed hugged the girl tightly, carrying her to bed. Briska would have given anything to hold Maram in her own arms, and perhaps one day she would, but in the meantime...she would at least watch.

As long as her mistress never found out.

For Kun must never know.

Briska took one last, longing look at Maram, before wiping the picture from the mirror. She would tell Mistress Kun about her success with Snow White in the morning, and accept her next assignment. One day, the matchmaking would end, and Kun would release her to go home to her daughter. One day.

However long it took, however many matches she had to make, Briska swore she would win her freedom.

For Maram.